Are Birdwing caterpillars poisonous?
In Common Birdwing, both caterpillars and adults are toxic. The caterpillars feed on leaves and young shoots of India Birthwort (Aristolochia tagala) which contain carcinogenic Aristolochic acids.
What is Karnataka state butterfly?
Karnataka declares Southern Birdwing as state butterfly.
Which is the biggest butterfly of India?
Golden Birdwing
A Himalayan butterfly named Golden Birdwing is India’s largest, a record an unknown specimen had held for 88 years.
Where are Birdwing butterfly found?
Queen Alexandra’s Birdwing (O. alexandrae) is a giant species with blue-green males. Its females reach a wingspan of 23 cm, giving them the distinction of being the world’s largest butterfly. This species is found in just a few valleys near Popondetta in Papua New Guinea and is severely endangered by forest clearing.
Which is the largest butterfly in South India?
Troides minos, the southern birdwing, also called Sahyadri birdwing, is a large and striking swallowtail butterfly endemic to south India. With a wingspan of 140–190 mm, it is the second largest butterfly of India….Troides minos.
| Southern birdwing | |
|---|---|
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
What is the world’s largest butterfly?
Queen Alexandra’s Birdwing
Queen Alexandra’s Birdwing, the largest butterfly in the world with a wingspan of 30cm—at least 10 times the size of common butterflies—was discovered in Papua New Guinea in 1906.
Is Golden Birdwing India’s largest butterfly?
Recently, a Himalayan butterfly known as Golden Birdwing (Troides aeacus) has been discovered as India’s largest butterfly after 88 years. It has replaced an unknown specimen which a british army officer Brigadier Evans had recorded in 1932.
How big is a Birdwing butterfly?
9.8 inches to 11 inches
Ornithoptera alexandrae, the Queen Alexandra’s birdwing, is the largest species of butterfly in the world, with females reaching wingspans slightly in excess of 25 cm to 28 cm (9.8 inches to 11 inches)….
| Queen Alexandra’s birdwing | |
|---|---|
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Papilionidae |
| Genus: | Ornithoptera |
What Colour is a Birdwing butterfly?
Most birdwings are green, with maximal reflectance at approximately 550 nm, but the blue-coloured O. urvillianus has a reflectance peaking at approximately 490 nm and the orange O.
What kind of plants do southern bird wing butterflies eat?
The only food source of the Southern Bird Wing butterfly is flower nectar. Like many other large forest butterfly species that also inhabit gardens and orchards, it has taken to feeding on Lantana, Ixora and Mussaenda, which are common ornamental garden plants.
What does a southern bird wing look like?
Southern Bird Wing usually flies very high, among or above tree-tops in the forests, but sometimes descends to the ground. It flies in a leisurely manner, circling and sailing over the plants. This flight, coupled with its bright colours, advertises the fact that the species is unpalatable to birds and other large insectivorous predators.
Where are all the species of birdwings found?
Troides species are distributed widely across the Indomalayan realm, but may be found as far east as New Guinea in the case of Troides oblongomaculatus. Some species may be found as far west as India, and are the westernmost distributed of all birdwings.
What kind of organ does a birdwing caterpillar have?
Like other members of their family, birdwing caterpillars possess a retractable organ behind their heads called an osmeterium. Shaped like the forked tongue of a snake, the osmeterium excretes a fetid terpene -based compound and is deployed when the caterpillar is provoked.